Pond and Plonk EveningIn summer 2014 FLEWG members spent an idyllic evening sipping plonk and pondering about ponds as we looked at the wonderful diversity of wildlife now in residence and around Gez and Heather's recently created pond.

Create a pond!The following is from the Pond Conservation website ( see link below ) What is the Million Ponds Project?The Million Ponds Project will create an extensive network of new ponds across the UK. Ultimately the aim is to reverse a century of pond loss, ensuring that once again the UK has over one million countryside ponds.

A critical element of the project is that these new ponds will have clean water. This is important because most countryside ponds are now badly damaged by pollution, and evidence shows that pond wildlife is declining across the UK. Making clean new ponds is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect freshwater wildlife.

The Million Ponds Project is a collaboration of partners, including major landowners and land managers, led and coordinated by Pond Conservation.

Find more information on why clean water ponds are important, and how to make them in the Pond Creation Toolkit.

POND CREATIONSteve and Mandy have started to create a pond in their Limply Stoke garden. Below is a photo of the pond in late May. Some plants have been added plus some tadpoles. In the meantime two newts have found the pond without any human assistance!By mid June Mandy was able to report: "The pond is already full of life - thousands of tadpoles, two newts, various varieties of water beetles and loads of damselflies and dragonflies. A great success so far."

Steve and Mandy's pond May 2015

Steve & Mandys pond mid June 2015

PONDLIFE IN A (VERY) SMALL PONDThis small pond owner by Tom and Jenny Harper, also featured in the photo at the head of the page, is raised up from ground level to stop people on the patio falling into and it is protected from herons and children by some old fencing wire bent into a pond 'eco dome'. It currently provides a home for 4 frogs, 5 newts and 3 goldfish along with numerous much smaller creatures. It demonstrates how even a very small pond can sustain wildlife.

PONDLIFE IN A (VERY) BIG PONDSelection from articles in the last year or so by Gez Rideout a local residentWe have a large pond in our garden and so we have been monitoring the wildlife throughout the last couple of years and as well as the more common wildlife species, we have had some quite interesting visitors.

Back last month, just as it was getting dark, we heard lots of croaking and splashing and the next day four balls of frogspawn appeared. These will be from frogs as toadspawn is in “strings” and toads tend to prefer larger and deeper ponds. We were amazed to see spawn so early in the year and in such cold temperatures. Frogs are amphibious and are widely known as exceptional jumpers, and many of the anotomical characteristics of frogs, particularly their long, powerful legs, are adaptations to improve jumping performance. A female generally lays spawn containing thousands of eggs. They typically lay these eggs in shallow stillwater, and their larve - tadpoles - have gills and develop in water. From hatching to frog development typically takes 6 to 8 weeks, but this can be a lot faster if the water temperature rises in hot weather. Frogs are secretive little critters but are mostly given away by their call, which can be mainly heard during their mating season – hence the racket they were recently making! Frogs can live up to 15 years, but 6-8 is more typical.

Another recent but more unusual visitor has been a hobby. This is a kestrel-sized very swift falcon with long, narrow wings that specialise in being superb aerialists. They can reach speeds approaching 100mph. Although they will take prey on the ground if the opportunity presents itself, most prey is caught on the wing. Even swifts and swallows often cannot outpace or out-manoeuver a hobby and fall foul of their agility and speed. They are particularly fond of dragonflies and so hence its liking for our pond. The best times to see them are late in the evening on summer days and close to water is always an advantage. They have large amounts of dark slaty grey plumage and the underside usually has lengthwise black streaks. The tails are dark or have slight banding. They arrive in the UK from April onwards and generally leave in late autumn.